Head excursion in a Maestro? Untethered?

gigi

New member
I checked out Target's new car seat aisle today and was really impressed with the Maestro. My son complains all. the. time about his Boulevard hurting his back (legs dangling) and I've contemplated getting him a Radian. But there are so many things I don't like about the Radian that it makes it hard for me to fork over $300. Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised by the Maestro. It had much more padding than I anticipated (more than the Nautilus), is light for travel, low profile, and won't take up my back seat.

While I know the Radian would RF (nice benefit) and the Maestro won't, I'm not 100% sure at this point I feel it is really super crazy important to re-RF him (he's almost 3.5 and has been FF since 3 and 35). However, I need a seat that performs well untethered due to required use of a no-tether foreign vehicle for about 2-3 weeks a year.

Does the Maestro do well untethered in head excursion? I know the Radian and Nautilus do, but the Nautilus is too big to travel with and the Radian...well let's just say I'm not as in love as many around here (plus there is no LATCH/ISOFIX in my foreign vehicle either and I'm not 100% sure I could get it in properly).

Does anyone know?

Also, how is the seatbelt install w/locking clip?
 
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Mae

Well-known member
Unfortunately, the majority of manufacturer's don't give out testing data. Sunshine Kid's released the Radian's data, and honestly, I'm not sure how we found out that the Nautilus does well, but we know it does well (untethered). With that said, nobody can give you concrete facts on how a specific seat does when it's untethered, but we do know that all seats must pass testing without the seat tethered.

And while I haven't gotten a chance to play with the Maestro myself, I hear good things about the installs! :)
 

bree

Car-Seat.Org Ambassador
I don't believe the head excursion numbers for the Maestro have been released yet. Here's a link to NHTSA's Compliance Testing Summary, and the January 2010 info doesn't look like it includes the Maestro yet.

I think the Maestro is probably a good lightweight travel choice compared to a lot of seats on the market, but I do understand your concern about having to use it untethered. Is there any chance he fits rear-facing in a seat other than the Radian? Maybe you could find a seat easier to install than the Radian rear-facing, then you could skip the install issues you might have with the Radian and not have to worry about the lack of top tether anchors in the car you'd be using. I guess that might not be a long term solution, though maybe by the next time you travel he'd be ready for a booster to bypass the tether issue.

There's also the Ride Safer Travel Vest to consider, though I'm not all that familiar with its features to know if it would work for your situation.
 

Pixels

New member
It takes time for us to get testing data, as first the seats are released, then NHTSA tests them (if they feel like it), then after the end of the fiscal year, we wait a while, then we get the reports. The Maestro is new enough that it hasn't had a chance to go through that whole cycle yet.

The following seats passed the 720 mm (tethered) requirement without top tether. They were all tested with the 6yo 53 pound dummy. In alphabetical order:
Britax Regent
Dorel Alpha Elite
Eddie Bauer 3 in 1
Evenflo Bolero
Evenflo Triumph Advance
Evenflo Titan Elite
Graco Nautilus
Recaro Como
Recaro Signo
Safety 1st All in One (AIO)
Sunshine Kids Radian 65/80
 

ntrenary

Active member
I fell in love with the Maestro at Target the other day too. I was set on getting a Frontier 85 or Nautilus once D is FFing. But after seeing the Maestro in person I think I'll get that one and save $100+, unless something better comes out by then.
 

gigi

New member
The following seats passed the 720 mm (tethered) requirement without top tether. They were all tested with the 6yo 53 pound dummy. In alphabetical order:
Britax Regent
Dorel Alpha Elite
Eddie Bauer 3 in 1
Evenflo Bolero
Evenflo Triumph Advance
Evenflo Titan Elite
Graco Nautilus
Recaro Como
Recaro Signo
Safety 1st All in One (AIO)
Sunshine Kids Radian 65/80

Pixels - Are you sure the EFTA passed with a 53 pound dummy? I ask only b/c it is a 50 pound seat. I have one of those, so I might consider that one for my international travel, but it is more of a beast than a my BLVD. Decisions, decisions.

Well hopefully the Maestro will pass soon.

As for the RFing, he's fairly tall and long torsoed as well as pushing 38 pounds fully dressed now (in cold weather clothes...in warm weather clothes probably around 36-37. Anyway, I'm not really interested in buying a 40 lb rear-facing seat at this point as he's bumping up on all the limits (height and weight). I'd go XTSL or just FFing.

I would have already bought the XTSL if a) it had fabrics for boys I like better or b) was easier to install.

I've been debating this in my head for 4-5 months at this point!
 

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